Bench-vise



(No Model.)

J. B. MULFORD' K BENGH VISB. No. 498,288. Patented May 30, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JOHN MULFORD, OF HAVANA, NEW YORK.

B ENCH-VISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 498,288, dated May 30, 1893.

Application filed January 26, 1893. Serial No. 459,806- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. MULFORD, of Havana, county of Schuyler, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bench-Vises, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to bench Vises and particularly to that variety wherein the movable head is mounted upon a hollow bar sliding through a mortise in the stationary head or body, which variety has received the name of hollow slide bar Vises to distinguish it from other patterns wherein the movable head is mounted otherwise than on a slide bar, or wherein the bar is not hollow and does not cover and protect the vise screw.

The principal objects of my invention are to produce a vise of the above named variety which shall be abundantly strong and durable and whereof the bar is not liable to bend or buckle under any possible strain (due to lts use), or to be broken across, or loosened at its connection with the head,and wherein economy in the manufacture and in repairs, and lightness of construction are secured, and all the desirable advantages of the best forms of hollow slide bar Vises retained. To accomplish all of these advantages in the matters of construction, operation and use my improvements involve certain new and useful arrangements or combinations of parts and particular features of construction, as will be herein first fully described and then pointed ont in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1. is a side elevation of my improved Vise as it appears when assembled and ready for use. Fig. 2 is a cross section through the slide bar and its projecting support on a plane through line zc-0c of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the slide bar and head mounted after the manner of my invention; and Fig. 4. is a cross section on a plane through line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section and elevation and Fig. 6 a longitudinal section and elevation showing the manner of casting the vise head upon the hollow slide bar and producing the necessary perfect welding of the two parts throughout the extent of their contact.

In all the figures like letters of reference, wherever they occur indicate corresponding parts.

Heretofore in Vises embodying wrought metal slide bars, the bars have been made solid and fail to cover and protect the vise screw in the required manner, or the bars have not been united with the head by welding so as to form asubstantialunion, or they have been so arranged as to buckle or bend under strain by the vise screw, rendering an increase in the height or weight of the vise necessary or sacrificing strength and solidity of parts without material advantage in other respects. To obviate these various objections I employ a hollow slide bar of wrought steel or iron (preferably steel) and which may be forged, rolled or pressed to shape which may be of much smaller gage or thickness and cross section than cast bars of similar figure and still be stronger and lighter, and on this I secure the corresponding vise head by an effective welding of the parts, fashioning the bar so that it cannot be bent or buckled by any reasonable sidewise 0r diagonal strain and supporting it so that it cannot be bent by any reasonable downward strain.

A represents the cast metal movable vise head, B the hollow slide bar of wrought steel or iron, 0 the stationary vise jaw or body through which the bar B slides, and D the vise screw. The bar B is of ample depth to protect the screw at top and on both sides as in any of the best forms of Vises and its sides are inclined as shown in the cross sectional views being spread at the bottom. This form being fitted to slide loosely through the mortise through body 0 cannot be upset or buckled by any side strain (such as is brought upon the bar by clamping apiece of work between the extremities of the jaws) as could the walls if made parallel, the inclined walls bracing the top and each other against any side movement in either direction.

In order to secure bar B and head A in a perfectly rigid manner I cut the ends of the side walls as indicated in Fig. 3, leaving open spaces as a a and thus forming projecting fingers a a, all around and between which the molten metal may freely flow; and the top part, at the end, I bend upwardly as indicated at b. I prefer to twist or bend the fingers a very slightly so that their extremities will not lie in the same plane, but this is not essential though it facilitates the desired free flow of metal and increases to some degree the security of the union. The bar thus slotted and bent is placed in a mold indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, the molten metal to form the head poured in as at s and allowed to flow down and out through an outlet as 25 until a sufiieient quantity has thus passed to bring the end of the bar to the proper condition of heat to thoroughly weld with the cast metal. The flow is then arrested, the metal allowed to cool, the vise head is thus completed and the welding of the two parts made perfect throughout. Pins or perforations through the bar will not suffice for the reason that the pins would melt off, or the perforations would not allow the necessary free flow of a sutficient quantity of the molten metal to accomplish the necessary welding.

It is essential that the welding be perfect throughout from top to bottom of the bar, otherwise the head will become loose from use, and a loosened vise head condemns the implement quite as effectually as doesabroken or detached one. The stationary part G is provided with a front extension 0' which supports the slide bar at a considerable distance in advance of the face of the stationary jaw, and this extension 0 is provided with narrow shoulders or'ledges c 0 against which the lower margins of the slide bar hear at any position of that bar. The bar is thus supported and prevented from buckling, bending or spreading at points well removed from the mortise in the stationary head and is therefore rendered abundantly rigid in all the usual positions to which it may be adjusted. In molding the movable head, clearances as 0 above the lower edges of the slide bar are provided for so that the movable head may ride over the ledges 0 without interference therewith; and the material of the head A is solid (except the openingc provided by use of a core 0 for admission of the vise screw) and fills the interior of the slide bar up to a line .2 .2 whereby the head is made strong and its union with the slide bar perfectly secure.

It is not always necessary to make the walls of the slide bar inclined, for obviously they might sometimes be made parallel, other features of the invention being retained.

The vise constructed and arranged in accordance with the foregoing explanations is found to admirably answer all the purposes of the invention previously set forth.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a bench vise, the wrought metal slide bar having inclined side walls said bar being united by welding with a cast metal head, the material of the head filling the interior of the end of the bar, between the walls substantially as shown and described.

2. In a bench vise, the combination with the case head of the wrought metal slide bar having side walls and top, the end of the top being curved upwardly and the ends of the side walls having fingers with free open spaces between, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a bench vise, the stationary head or body provided with a forward extension having ribs or ledges on' the edges thereof, the same being combined with the slide bar having inclined side walls, which bar moves on said extension and bears against the ledges, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a bench vise, the stationary head or body provided with the extension having ledges upon the margins thereof, the movable head welded upon the slide bar leaving clearances above the lower margins of said bar, and the slide bar having inclined side walls, the same being fitted to move through the stationary head and upon the extension between and against the ledges, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. go

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

JNO. E. MULFORD.

WVitnesses:

JOHN BUCKLER, W'ORTH Ossoon. 

